ESP Flashcards
What is ESP?
Extrasensory perception e.g telekinesis, precognition and telepathy
Why would proof of ESP violate our understanding of science?
The violation of causality would invalidate a lot of physics, which itself is proved many times a day
Who was Sidgwick?
Founded the “Society for Psychical Research” in 1882, and was the first to apply scientific methods to study the paranormal
Why are PEARs results invalid despite having a high significance?
Significance likely driven by a large n
What is P-value hacking?
Exploiting experimenter degrees of freedom by choosing when to stop recording data, what variables to follow, what comparisons to make and what statistical methods to use
What is the Texas sharpshooter fallacy?
A post-hoc definition of ‘success’
What is the file drawer problem?
When ‘bad’ data are not included in a study
What is the problem with multiple comparisons?
Often if you repeat an experiment enough you are likely to get at least one significant effect by chance
